New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie is more of a leader than a bully, New Jersey voters say
50 - 45 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. That compares to a
54 - 39 percent vote for leader April 11.

In a separate question, when the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University
poll asked New Jersey voters for one word to describe Gov. Christie, with no choices offered,
185 voters say "bully." The next most used words are:

Arrogant - 75 voters;

Tough - 50 voters;

Honest - 43 voters;

Good - 41 voters;

Aggressive - 38 voters.

The overall tone and level of civility in New Jersey politics is mostly negative, voters say
65 - 27 percent, but 60 percent say that tone is about the same as the level in Washington, while
23 percent say Trenton is better and 12 percent say worse.

"Gov. Christopher Christie's squabble on the Seaside boardwalk - shades of Snooki! -
underlined his pugnacious 'Jersey Guy' image with some voters, who volunteered that he's a
bully. But most of his fellow New Jerseyans call him a leader," said Maurice Carroll, director of
the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"The folks in Trenton aren't very polite, voters think, but political civility along the
Delaware is about on a par with behavior along the Potomac."

New Jersey voters approve 54 - 39 percent of the job the governor is doing, unchanged
from Quinnipiac University's May 16 survey.

"Politicians still gossip about the idea, but New Jerseyans think Christie would be a bad
choice for VP," Carroll said. "The Gov's job approval number holds comfortably above 50
percent and voters like him and his policies."

More New Jersey voters agree with Democrats that it's better to wait for a tax cut:

49 percent side with legislative Democrats, who want to delay voting on a tax cut until
they see if state revenues are strong enough to support the cut;

Tax vote aside, voters approve 54 - 39 percent of the way Christie is handling the state
budget.

Voters give the State Legislature bad grades, disapproving 45 - 31 percent of the job the
State Assembly is doing; disapproving 45 - 34 percent of the job the State Senate is doing, and
disapproving 53 - 27 of the way the State Legislature is handling the state budget.

"Gov. Christie's special legislative session provided some early-summer noise, but the
result is more voters side with the Democrats wait-and-see position instead of Christie's demand
for a vote on tax relief now," Carroll said.

From July 9 - 15, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,623 registered voters with a margin
of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia
and the nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

8. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christopher Christie is handling his job as Governor?

TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New Jersey today; are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? (*High also 71% Feb 1999)

17. What one word best describes your impression of Christopher Christie? NOTE: These numbers are not percentages; figures show the number of respondents who offered each response. This table reports only those words that were mentioned at least five times.

30. As you may know, Governor Christie ordered a special vote on a tax cut. Legislative Democrats want to wait to see if tax revenues are strong enough to support it. Governor Christie wants an immediate vote. Whose position is closer to your point of view, Governor Christie's or legislative Democrats'?